Carl Horth, 26, was handed the criminal anti-social behaviour order banning him from begging after Lowestoft magistrates heard about his long history of offending in the town.

Horth, of Denmark Road, pleaded guilty this afternoon to four counts of begging during January - leading to magistrates issuing the anti-social behaviour order.

As the court heard about Horth’s begging in Claremont Road, London Road North and Peto Way on January 6, 14. 19 and 25, magistrates were told how his persistent offending was a long standing problem.

Horth had 56 convictions for 136 offences, mostly for begging.

Corinne Gook-Hurren, prosecuting, said: “You will see from his list of previous convictions, that almost on a daily basis he has come before the court or committed offences.

“Since November 18, there have been no less than 27 reports by members of the public that were concerned about Mr Horth’s behaviour.”

Horth’s latest five offences came after he was released from prison.

He had been jailed in December for six weeks for threatening behaviour and two counts of begging following an incident at Lowestoft Library.

Richard Mann, mitigating, said Horth had gone begging after his release from prison as he had no money.

Mr Mann added “He does have considerable learning difficulties. His attention span is extremely short. He also has mental health problems.

“He is basically harmless, but he is a nuisance.”

Graham Denny, chair of the bench, said magistrates were satisfied Horth should be given the banning order as it would protect the public from his “anti-social acts”.

There is no time limit on how long Horth’s criminal anti-social behaviour order will last and if he breaches it by begging in England and Wales he could be jailed for up to five years.

Horth will breach the order by asking any member of the public for money or food or drink.

He was given the criminal anti-social behaviour order after Lowestoft police and Waveney District Council’s anti-social behaviour team had worked on an application for one.

After today’s hearing PC Mark Sargeant of the Lowestoft North Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “We are aware of how much distress his begging has caused law-abiding members of the public in the past and a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes not only to catch him but to gather evidence so that measures could be put in place to deal with his behaviour.”

Lowestoft police said if anyone sees Horth begging they should call 101 to report him.